Fisker Will Be Chinese, One Way Or The Other

by Bertel Schmitt

Published: February 18th, 2013

fisker will be chinese one way or the other

Not Dongfeng, but China’s Geely currently looks best positioned to profit from U.S. government largesse by buying beleaguered and DOE- funded plug-in car maker Fisker, Reuters reports. According to the report, “Zhejiang Geely Holding Group is favored to secure a majority stake in troubled U.S. electric car maker Fisker Automotive, according to two sources familiar with Fisker’s search for a strategic investor or partner.”

Also according to the report, red flags are sure to flutter over Fisker’s HQ in Anaheim, as Fisker “is currently weighing bids from two Chinese auto makers: Geely, the owner of Sweden’s Volvo, and state-owned Dongfeng Motor Group Co.”

Geely Chairman Liu Shu Fu (left)

Geely and Dongfeng did offer between $200 million to $300 million for a controlling interest in Fisker. Reuters’ sources think Geely has the inside track, because Geely is “more serious” and “passionate” about Fisker and its technology, the company also is said to be able to “move fast in making decisions — unlike Dongfeng, whose responsiveness could be hampered by its multi-layered decision-making structure typical in a Chinese state-owned enterprise.”

In 2009, Fisker received a $528.7 million conditional loan from the DOE. After drawing down $193 million, the credit line was frozen, following a series of scandals surrounding other DOE recipients. Production was shut down in summer of 2012 while fresh capital was sought. The financial troubles of Fisker’s battery supplier A123 gave Fisker another reason not to restart production. A123, another recipient of DOE largesse, was sold off to China.

Which is where DOE recipients appear to get outsourced to.

#BertelSchmitt #Dongfeng #Fisker #Geely #Karma

Bertel Schmitt

Bertel Schmitt comes back to journalism after taking a 35 year break in advertising and marketing. He ran and owned advertising agencies in Duesseldorf, Germany, and New York City. Volkswagen A.G. was Bertel's most important corporate account. Schmitt's advertising and marketing career touched many corners of the industry with a special focus on automotive products and services. Since 2004, he lives in Japan and China with his wife <a href="http://www.tomokoandbertel.com"> Tomoko </a>. Bertel Schmitt is a founding board member of the <a href="http://www.offshoresuperseries.com"> Offshore Super Series </a>, an American offshore powerboat racing organization. He is co-owner of the racing team Typhoon.

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3 of 18 comments

CarnotCycle on Feb 18, 2013

What 'technology' in Fisker's Volt Fastback Edition is worth buying? I've seen maybe six in six months, one of which was on a flatbed. In car world, nothing is sillier than an expensive, sleek Viagramobile that's built cheap and goes slow. Pathetic.

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- Splorg McGillicuddy on Feb 18, 2013
  
  To be fair about the flatbed: that's how these are delivered new.
  
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HerrKaLeun on Feb 19, 2013

little bit off-topic, but here is a great article about car batteries: http://www.anandtech.com/show/6759/tesla-model-s-effects-of-temperature-on-ev-efficiency-and-range

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